Johnny On the Spot:
Sunderland`s quintessentially ordinary side will still be pinching themselves at beating Manchester City by the time the curtain comes down on an increasingly knife edged Premier League title race which is now wide open.
Bolstered by West Brom`s double defensive wall Boxing Day shut out of the league leaders, touchline jester Martin O`Neill deployed the self same tactics as Roy Hodgson for this torturous New Years Day mismatch and came away with a stunning 3 points that have rocked City`s title charge to it`s foundations. The Blues only have themselves to blame. There can be no excuses. Outside of Mario Balotelli, the big guns were all gradually rolled out as City`s increasing profligacy finally realised the reverse against a far less capable side that they have been threatening....
Edin Dzeko was the chief culprit with some appalling finishing amid The Citizens 25 attempts on goal which included 2 bar rattlers. Behind him, despite enormous possession, City`s midfield failed. Samir Nasri, YaYa Toure, Adam Johnson and Nigel De Jong were never at the races, infrequently dispossessed and collectively confirming that City have evolved into the Arsenal stroll it in tactics that led to gradual implosion this time last year when faced by all out defence...
A glaring factor becoming more and more evident on City's defensive part is that distribution out is pisspoor....
VMC`s Pedmachine has been warning all season that City`s preoccupation with camping out around the opposition box infrequently means we`ll cough up a chance and it came in the form of a last seconds hammer blow that there was nothing the valiant efforts throughout this game that the likes of Pablo Zabaleta, Gareth Barry and Vincent Kompany could do anything about. Admittedly, Dong-Won Ji was offside, but referee Kevin Friend had a great game and let it flow. City`s lack of direct thrust and predominance to play it narrow brought us to this defeat....
The best thing that can happen now is for a new fixture to come along rapidly and City`s squad, unnecessarily stretched on Wearside has that opportunity at home to Liverpool inside 48 hours. Roberto Mancini, who did his fruit repeatedly on the touchline will demand an instant response. If City are serious about winning a league that is there for the taking, this must never happen again.

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What a ******** travesty. Still, was down to us to put away at least one of our 25 chances, and we didn't. Just hope the assistant referee looks at the replays of the Sunderland goal and realises he's going to be officiating in the lower leagues for a good while once the assesors see that balls-up.

Even though the goal was offside, and just like the non-penalty for Silva at Chelsea we're again the victim of dodgy decision making, by that point Sunderland scoring shouldn't even have been a concern. Our strikers seem to have lost their touch especially Dzeko who wasted chance after chance until I was begging them to keep the ball away from him. Balotelli should have surely been on the bench at least as he is better than Dzeko. Johnson needs to go and I've said a long time he is massively overrated. That most non-City fans are deluded into thinking he is a great player we're not giving enough time to is good for us as it probably means someone is willing to pay big money for this myth of a footballer.

it was always going to be Sunderland to nick' it, after so many chances at their goal, and non converted, it 's 'Typical' City, but Why did Yaya give the ball away so many times, and in dangerous positions, i agree with Stumcfc, Johnson is a 'Impact' player at best, never a whole 90 minute man, he went missing for large parts of the 2nd half, Dzeko WTF, ok he has not started for a while, it does not mean he shoots at every oportunity, and from stupid angles, Edin IT IS A TEAM GAME....... Ok we lost we dust ourselves down and move on and it's Liverpool next..... just make sure we dont slip up there...

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